Kaye Now after starting Nordic Walking

When Kaye Redwood joined the management team at Nordic Walking UK she was not a keen exerciser and her love of the good life had resulted in rapid weight gain. Here’s her story about how her introduction to Nordic Walking and the Pete Cohen weight loss programme used by Nordic Walking UK Instructors were just what she needed when she received a surprise proposal of marriage whilst on holiday in Italy!

“My boyfriend Pete took me to Rome, we ate and drank (copious amounts!) of red wine

like the Gods and then he proposed in front of the Trevi Fountain. As you find at any top tourist trap, there was a cheeky photographer who charged us a fortune to get a photo of the moment when we got engaged. The next day instead of being overjoyed at the thought of my wedding day I was sick with nerves at the thought of trying to get a dress that would fit me and couldn’t look at the hideous photos we had been given the night before! At 18 ½ stone (and being quite short!) any wedding dress that I could have got into wouldn’t have made me feel like a princess at all. Pete had also been living the fine life ballooning in weight – we both encouraged each other to indulge and were now in our poorest shape ever!

Kaye prior to taking up Nordic Walking

I got back to Nordic Walking HQ still feeling completely overwhelmed at how on earth I was going to lose all the weight I needed to. In a way it felt like fate stepped in! Gill, our Director of programmes, had been working with Pete Cohen looking to create a weight loss programme that our Nordic Walking instructors could offer their clients. She was going through the 21 day programme in which Pete Cohen sends a daily e mail that helps people to change their habits. At the time, my desk was near to her so I kept hearing Pete’s dulcet tones and was intrigued and when Gill asked us all to be guinea pigs and go through the programme to give our inputs, I thought I had nothing to lose (apart from a lot of weight!)

I started going through the programme and took it quite seriously as I was doing research! As I went through the 9 tools and how the programme works to address issues about why you over indulge and how it effects your body, health and mental state. A lightbulb went on in my head  and everywhere I went I had Pete Cohen literally coaching me.  If I so much as looked at a glass of wine, I would hear him saying  ‘full of stimulants and chemicals, no nutritional value’  and when my colleagues offered the Friday office chips treat ‘where do I want to wear those on my body’. More importantly when the little negative voice in my head was saying you aren’t going to reach the goal and look beautiful, Pete would chip in with ‘shut that duck up you can do it’. I always believed that I had no willpower but it transpired that I did – everyone I knew were very surprised.

Pete Cohen believes the body is only designed to do one thing – MOVE! Taking this advice I really stepped up the Nordic Walking going out with our local group 2 times a week and meeting other members of the HQ team early in the morning at the local park blasting round with our poles. As I got fitter I could take on the Ultimate Nordic circuit classes which I loved and took in my stride. The encouragement from the instructors and the other members of the group made a huge difference and really picked me up if I was struggling to keep up the enthusiasm 24/7 – without this on the ground moral boosting it would have been so much harder.

A few months into the weight loss due to health issues I wasn’t able to do the Nordic Walking; it had a number of effects with no exercise endorphins flowing in my blood I felt shattered and lacked motivation, I didn’t eat or drink anything I shouldn’t have, but still just maintained weight  – this really showed me that without exercise any healthy eating plan will have limited results the key is definitely to combine the two.

I have now exercised and weight loss guru’ed for almost a year and am delighted to say I have lost 5 ½ stone – another positive has been that I have an even more handsome and slimmer groom to be, who has lost 4 ½ stone as I’ve taken him on the journey with me!

I think the key for me is that the programme isn’t a diet, it gets you to look at why you do what you do and helps you to take control so that you can sort your own problems out, the tools Pete Cohen teaches you will be with you for life and can be applied to so many aspects of your life not just weight loss! And the perfect therapy to go alongside it is the outdoor exercise, which just makes everyone smile and feel fab.

The wedding is in 5 months’ time so I am on the last slog to lose the final 2 stone – watch this space I will do it!

Kaye will regularly update us on her progress and of course we all have those Wedding pictures to look forward to.

If you want to lose weight in a relaxed friendly group, ask your local NWUK Instructor for the unique Nordic weight loss guru exercise plan.